Single pole forearm crutch and basket



I United States Patent 1111 3,545,

[72 Inventor Richard AtbMahoney i Hollywood, California UNITED STATESPATENTS 1 pp 788,575 1,838.986 12/1931 Callender 135/47x I 1 FlledJan-2,1969 2,311,049 2/1943 Hedden 135/47 1 Famed Dec-3,1970 2,750,9516/1956 Barnwell.. 135/47 1 Asslsnee 3,213,869 10/1965 Frank 135/475acorporationolcahfnrnia. by directand v meme assignments PrimaryExaminer-J. Karl Bell [54] SINGLE POLE FOREARM CRUTCH AND BASKET 501FieldofS earch 135/47,47.5

Attorney- Pastoriza & Kelly basket is secured in a convenient positionfor carrying articles. 1

wmrgnmsm 8545462 INVENTOR RICHARD A. Q'MAHONEY BY 6250a 9 7 4A??? A770NEYS.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is very difficult for crippled persons tocarry articles or packages when using their crutches since both handsand arms are generally with simply properly supporting themselves. Theproblem has been solved heretofore firstand the case of underarm-typecrutches wherein each crutch includes a pair of bowed wood or metallicmembers converging together towards their lower ends and including anunderarm yoke at their upper ends. In these structures, it is relativelysimple to secure the container basket to the two bowed portions of thecrutch intermediate I the upper and lower ends. Since the crutchincludes a pair of bowed-wooden members, any basket or container securedthereto may readily be d by utilizing clips or other suitable means onthe basket-engaging horizontally spaced points on the bowed crutchportions.

More recently, improved-type crutches have been introduced generallyknown as single pole forearm crutches. Each of these crutches includes asingle elongated pole terminating at its lower end in a ground-engagingportion and at its upper end ina forearm-encircling portion, generallyin the form of semicylindrical-shaped segments which will comfortablyengage a person's forearm immediately below the elbow. A single handleextends normally from the single pole structure a short distance belowthe forearm-encirclingportion so that great stability is afforded theuser.

With single pole crutch structures of the foregoing type, it is verydifficult to provide any suitable type of securing means for a basket orcontainer for the crutch. The primary difficulty resides in the factthat the basket will tend to swing around the axis of the pole itselfparticularly if the basket is loaded with packages which lend itconsiderable weight.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION With the foregoingconsiderations in mind, it is a primary object of the present inventionto provide a novel basket struc ture with securing means particularlyadapted to single pole forearm-type crutches wherein the basket itselfmay readily be secured or removed without requiring any special toolsand without requiring any modification of the crutch structure itselfand wherein there is fully realized the advantage of a very stablesecurement such that swinging of the basket and the like about thesingle pole longitudinal axis is minimized.

Briefly, this object is realized by, providing a basket structureincluding a suspension link having a circular portion for looping aboutthe handle of the crutch merging into diverging leg portions the lowerends of which are secured to the upper rear wall portion of the basketat a given horizontal spacing. The link defines generally a hair pinconfiguration and the basket hangs from the link facing in a forwarddirection directly beneath the handle. The rear wall of the basket alsoincludes resilient clip. means preferably including first and secondvertically spaced clips which include resilient arms arranged to engagediametric opposite portions of the single poleportion of the crutchbelow the handle. The arrangement is such that a force moment is createdby the weight of packages and the like in the basket tending to forcethe resilient meansinto tighter clipping engagement withthe pole.

The encircling portion of the link and diverging leg structure in turnserves to stabilize the basket in cooperation with the clip structure tothe pole such that revolving of the basket about the pole axis isinhibited.

Finally, the overall structure is such that the basket may readily beremoved or inserted relative to the crutch without any special tools.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A better understanding of theinvention will be had by now referring to a preferred embodiment thereofas illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a single poleforearrn crutch and basketin accord with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross section taken in the direction of thearrows 2-2 of FIG. 1; and,

FIG. 3 isa fragmentary cross section taken in the direction of thearrows 3-3 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION or THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT doubleheaded arrow 14.The forearm encircling structure may include semicylindrically shapedcradles 15 and 16 for comfortably engaging the persons forearm below theelbow.

The crutch structure also includes a handle 17 extending generallynormally from the pole :structure 10 at an intermediate position belowthe forearm-encircling portions 15 and 16. The handle will generallyinclude the maximum diameter portion as indicated by the letter D and areduced diameter portion adjacent to the end secured to the polestructure 10.

Arranged to cooperate with the foregoing described crutch is a basket 18having an open top 18a. and a rear wall 18b. A

suspension link 19 is arrangedto be looped over the reduceddiameterportion of the handle 17 and includes diverging legs secured to theupper portion of the rear wall 18b of the basket as shown. The rear wallof the basket also includes resilient clip means in the form of firstand second vertically spaced clips 20 and 21 arranged to engage aboutdiametric opposite will exert a weight generally in the direction of'the arrow W.

Since the suspension link 19 is forward of the pole structure 10, therewill be generated force moments as indicated by the arrows F1 and F2tending to urge the clips 20 and 21 into tighter engagement with thepole structure 10. This tighter engagement with greater weight as wellas the design of the suspension link 19 will aid in inhibiting anyrevolving or rotational movement of the basket about the longitudinalvertical axis of 'the pole structure 10 all as will become clearer asfurther details of the structure are described.

Referring now to the fragmentary cross section of FIG. 2, it will benoted that the suspension link 19 is generally of a p hair,

pin configuration and includes a circular portion 24 merging intofirst-and second-diverging legs 25 and 26. These legs are secured attheir lower ends as by welding or any other equivalent means to theupper rear wall portion 18b of the basket as indicated at 27 and 28.Each .leg has a length L between the portion where it diverges from thecircular portion 24 to its connection point to the basket. This lengthin conjunction with a givenhorizontal distance designated by the letterd between the securement points 27 and 28 is specifically designed suchthat the basket and suspension link may readily be removed from thecrutch structure. In this respect, the length L and distance d are suchthat the maximum diameter D of the handle can readily be receivedbetween the diverging leg portions. Thus, when the basket is urgedupwardly, the reduced diameter portion of the handle indicated at D willbiasthe upper portions of the legs apart and drop into the positionbetween the diverging legs wherein the entire basket and suspension.clip may readily be pulled awayfrom I the crutch structure off of thehandle. Reverse steps are taken when attaching the basket to the crutchstructure.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the second resilient clip 21 is shown ingreater detail. The first clip 20 described in FIG. 1 is of identicalconstruction and therefore detailed description of one will suffice forboth.

As shown in FIG. 3, the clip includes a base 29 which may be welded orotherwise secured .asat 30 to the rear wall l8bof the basket. From thisbase there extends flexible arms 31 and 32 contoured to frictionallyengage about the pole structure 10. The open ends of the arms facerearwardly such that when the basket 18 is pulled forwardly as viewed inFIG. 1, the arms will be biased apart to release the pole structure 10.

OPERATION In operation, it will be understood that there would benormally provided two single pole forearm-type crutches such as shown inFIG. 1. One or both of these crutches may be provided with baskets.

To secure the basket 18 to the crutch, the basket is positioned in aslightly raised level over that shown in FIG. 1 such that the end of thehandle 17 may be received between the diverging legs of the suspensionlink 19. The basket is then simply slid towards the single polestructure until the circular portion of the suspension link ispositioned over the reduced diameter portion of the handle 17. Thebasket 18 is then urged downwardly so that this reduced diameter portionof the handle 17 snaps into the circular portion of the link. The clips20 and 21 are then urged into engagement with the pole 10 and the basketis thus secured in position. This operation is relatively simple and canbe carried out without the use of any special tools.

When packages or other articles are placed into the basket 18, theirweight as described heretofore will tend to urge the clips 20 and 21into tighter engagement with the pole and thus increased frictionholding the basket in its forward or inner position will be realized.This fact in combination with the suspension link structure 19 whereinthe circular portion 24 as described in FIG. 2 snugly engages about thereduced diameter portion of the handle 17 will inhibit rocking orrevolving movement of the basket about the vertical axis of the pole.

It will be noted that the basket is forward of the pole structureitself. Thus when a person is using the crutch in walking, inertiaforces of the basket will be against the front surface of the pole andthere will not be created any appreciable moments tending to cause arevolving of the basket about the pole as would be the case were thebasket oriented to the side of the pole. Further, the open top 18a ofthe basket is conveniently located immediately under the handle 17 sothat a person can place objects inthe basket or pick objects from thebasket without having to move his arm any appreciable distance.

Normally the baskets may remain in position on the crutches and theyserve an additional function of rendering it very easy to lean thecrutches against a wall without the crutches toppling over. However,should a user wish to remove the basket, it is a simple matter to unclipthe clips 20 and 21 by exerting a forward force on the rear wall 18b ofthe basket and then urging the basket vertically upwardly to positionthe handle 17 between the diverging legs of the suspension link 19. Inthis position, the maximum diameter of the handle will be as indicatedat 17' in FIG. 2 by the dashed lines and it will be evident that thebasket may readily be removed from the crutch structure by simply urgingit forwardly away from the pole 10 until the handle passes completelyfrom between the diverging legs.

In the event that small articles are to be collected in the basket, theplastic basket liner 22 may be used to prevent such small articles frompassing between the wire frame structure of the basket.

From the foregoing description, it will be evident that the presentinvention has provided a greatly improved basket structure particularlyuseful for single pole forearm-type crutches wherein all of the variousadvantages heretofore described are fully realized. I

I claim:

1. A single pole forearm crutch and basket combination comprising:

a. a single pole crutch structure terminating at its lower end in aground engaging portion and at its upper end in a forearm-encirclingportion;

b. a handle extending substantially normally from said single polecrutch structure at a level below said forearm-encircling portion;

0. a basket having an open top and a rear wall;

d. a suspension link including an upper circular portion merging intodownwardly extending diverging legs of 7 given length to define a hairpin configuration, the lower ends of said legs being secured at a givenhorizontal spacing from each other to the upper end portion of said rearwall of said basket;

e. and resilient clip means secured to said rear wall of said basket ina position below the midpoint of said given horizontal spacing;

f. said handle having a given maximum diameter and a reduced diameteradjacent to its securement to said single pole crutch structure, saidcircular portion of said link encircling in snug engagement said reduceddiameter of said handle, and said resilient clip means engaging saidsingle pole crutch structure below said handle, said given length ofsaid diverging legs and said horizontal spacing being greater than saidgiven maximum diameter; and whereby said basket may be urged upwardly tomove said handle from said circular portion of said link to a positionbetween said diverging legs and thence pulled away from said single polecrutch structure to thereby separate said basket from said crutchstructure, said diverging legs and horizontal spacing stabilizing saidbasket against swinging movements about the axis of said single polecrutch when said basket is secured thereto.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 in which said resilient clip meanscomprise first and second clips secured to said rear wall in verticallyspaced relationship, each clip including a base portion secured to saidrear wall and merging into firstand second-spring arms for frictionallyengaging opposite diametric portions of said single pole crutchstructure.

